Week 6: Imagining Safety

As we go into week six of our classes, it’s becoming more and more evident that teaching is not going to be easy. We are not going to be playing with kids all day. I never thought it would be fun and games, but these two classes are an eye-opening experience for many of the difficult issues that we will be faced with when we begin teaching.

One of our readings this week, Imagination, Community, and the School talks about the need for creativity and imagination in schools. This is usually provided through arts and activities that encourage students to explore and develop individually and as a team.

Not only is it important for students to have imagination, Greene argues that it’s imperative for the teachers to have imagination as well. “Imagination is as important in the lives of teachers as it is in the lives of their students, in part because teachers incapable of thinking imaginatively or of releasing students to encounter works of literature and other forms of art are probably unable to communicate to the young what the use of imagination signifies.” Teachers that are passionate are always thinking of ways to improve their teaching. This can mean constantly reviewing literature to find the best stories for the students or finding the best way to “build bridges” with the students. I think what Greene is saying is that if we are not able to bring that life and enthusiasm into creating the best atmosphere and lessons to our students, we are doing a disservice to our community by not showing students the capacity to grow and learn.

Greene also writes that arts is one a way of bringing a community together. I remember the best times I had in elementary school were when we were working on art projects. While I was observing at Martha Lake Elementary, the second graders had a lesson on the rainforest. This included making portfolios of endangered rainforest species, reading literature about young rainforest explorers, and the lesson ended with an outing to the Woodland Park Zoo. It was obvious that this lesson was the most interesting and exciting lesson of their day and (gasp!) they learned about endangered species- not to mention technology for research (they were looking information up on their laptops and using the library to find books on the subject), reading, and teamwork. Greene states, “This is one of the reasons we should argue strenuously for the presence of the arts in classrooms, We are finding out how storytelling helps, how drawing helps; but we need to go further to create situations in which something new can be added each day to a learner’s life.”


Martha Lake’s rainforest lesson is a great example of arts and imagination leading to discovery, but they were all in second grade. What happens when they get to third grade and begin testing? I also observed a fifth grade class and the bulk of the time I was grading math quizzes while the students were reading- much less interesting than the first and second grade classes.
We also had another article, Building a Safe Community for Learning, which talks about creating an safe environment for students to learn. When talking about safety, many people think of bullies stealing lunch money or children bringing weapons. Another way to think about safety is an environment where everyone is able to speak up, ask for help, or participate without fear of ridicule. “They want Safety: the safety to learn and to fail; the safety to show oneself fully and be appreciated or at least supported; the safety to succeed and the safety to be imperfect; the safety from humiliation, isolation, stigmatization, alienation from the group.” Not often there is a class that everyone feels like they are able to show their real selves without fear. This happens early on and may last until high school or beyond. If we can give a safe environment early on, we can make school a positive experience for everyone and hopefully create wonderful little humans that learn and get along with one another. Yes, more idealism, but positive thinking never hurt anyone!

This is one of the reasons why I very much enjoy this cohort. I always feel like I have the support of my classmates and I can speak my mind. Last week, Julie wrote an email that was very personal. I don’t think normally it would’ve been shared to all her classmates if it were another class outside this cohort. This program is a true example of the “safety” described in this reading.